Elevator controlling mechanism



{No Model.)

B. T-. CRANE.

ELEVATOR CONTROLLING MECHANISM. No. 556,921. Patented Mar. 24, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD T.

CRANE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ELEVATOR CONTROLLING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,921, dated March 24, 1896.

Application filed October 9, 1896.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD 'l. CRANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicage, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elevator Controlling Mechanism, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of elevator controlling devices in which the cables (which form the means of communication between the operator on the car and the starting and stopping mechanism of the motor) are arranged to travel with the car. Heretofore in devices of this class the most common practice has been to provide a lever-at some convenient point within the car,by which,through suitable connection with the controlling-cables, the operator was enabled to take in or pay out the various parts of said cables in such manner as to secure the desired movement of the operating-n1otor. In the use of such devices, however, it has been found in practice that difficulty is experienced in securing for a certain definite movement of the controllingdever just exactly the resultant speed that is desired. Sometimes it is greater and sometimes less than the operator intended. This result is due to the fact that as at present arranged a very slight movement of the controlling mechanism in the car produces a very considerable movement of the starting and stopping devices of the motor, these comparative terms, of course, being used relatively. Thus it not infrequently happens that when the operator places his lever or cable handle or button in a certain predetermined position he sometimes gets a greater speed and sometimes a less speed than he had intended, it being a matter of uncertainty just what the result may be until the movement is felt.

Specifically stated, my invention consists in the provision. of a suitable motion-reducing mechanism (preferably of the form hereinafter specifically described) whereby the relative movement of the operating device on the car or under the hand of the carman will be reduced as it is transferred to the controlling-cables, in order that any unintentional excess or insufficiency of movement made by Serial No. 565,131. (No model.)

the carman will produce but little variation in the speed of the car.

To enable others skilled in the art to more clearly understand the nature of my improvement, I will proceed to describe it in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which I have illustrated it in preferred form, and in which- Figure 1 represents an elevator-car and its attached connections embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of a detail part of Fig. l to be hereinafter fully described.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. l, 1 is the elevator-car, the lifting-cable, and 3 the sheave over which said cable passes.

4, 5, 6, and 7 are the parts of the controllingcables, and S is the starting and stopping mechanism of the motor, here represented for convenience of illustration as a hydraulic valve, although my invention is equally applicable to any other kind of elevator-1n otorsuch, for example, as an electric machine.

The various parts of the controlling-cables pass over sheaves 9, 10, 1]., and 12 in the manner common to nearly all devices of this class. The sheaves 9 and 10 are journaled on the ends of a lever 24:, which is fulcrumed at 13, as clearly indicated in the drawings.

As up to this point all the parts designated by reference-numbers are old in the art and in themselves form no part of my present invention, I will here omit any lengthy description of them.

In thepractice of my invention I provide at the bottom of the car, fulcrumed in a bracket attached thereto, a segmental lever 14:, to the ends of which at 15 and 16 are attached the cables is and 7. As a support for this segmental lever I provide a fulcrum-pin 17, to which, fixed relatively to the lever la, is also attached a segmental arm 18, having a series of teeth at its outer end engaging with a pinion 19, which is fixed to a sheave 20. The sheave and pinion are journaled in a bracket fastened to the bottom of the car. At the top of the car, journaled in another bracket, I provide another sheave 21, and over the sheaves 20 and 21 I pass a local cable 22, which, for convenience of reference, I shall here call the hand-cable. On the line of this last-mentioned cable, which passes through the car, I place a button or handle which I have-marked 23. \Vith all the parts in thesposition'shown the carwill be at rest. If now it is desired to ascend, the handle 23 is pulled downward. This rotates the sheave. 20 and connected pinion 19, and thence in turn the segmental-arm lSand its connected segmental lever 14, paying out on the cable 7 and drawing in on the cable 4, this in turn causing a movement of the lever 2% in direction to operate the starting and stopping mechanism 8, so as to raise the car.

It is to be noted that by the use of the sheave 20 and pinion 19 operating in the manner described, considerable range of move ment of the handle 23 will be necessary to secure any considerable variation in the position of the starting and stopping-mechanism S, the-wholedevice forminginasense a kind of reducing apparatus, which vat the same time that it'decreases the range of'motion'of theoperating-handle in transferring it to the starting and stopping mechanism multiplies the effective force of thepower applied.

{The device, 'of-which a plan view-is shown in Fig-'2, is for the purpose'of taking up any slack that nay occur in. the operating-cables.

As it'isof well-known form and constitutes not-deemed necessary.

- It is obvious that manydetails of the construction-herein described might be modified without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I therefore wish it understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact construction shown, but would include all equivalent means known in the art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In elevator controlling mechanism, the combination with thecontrolling-cables and their connected starting and stopping device: ofa' hand-cable carried on the car, and a motionreducing mechanism connecting said controlling-cables and said hand-cable, substantially as shown-and described.

2. I In elevator controlling.mechanism, the

combinationwith the controlling-cables" and their connected starting and 'stopping device ofa hand-cable 22,- sheaves 20and'21, pinion 19, segmental arm 18,: and segmentallever 14. the controlling-cables being each secured at one end to the ear, and at the other end to the lever 14, substantially as shown and described.

RICHARD -.T. CRANE. \Vitnesses:

WILL F. FARRELL,

J. H. STEINER. 

